Dorner manhunt: More snow expected for Big Bear as residents wait

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As officials urged Big Bear residents and visitors to remain indoors during the continuing manhunt for ex-LAPD officer Christopher Dorner, meteorologists for the National Weather Service forecast showers and more snow for the area.

By about 6 a.m. Friday, about an inch of snow had fallen in Big Bear. One resident described the mood on the mountain as ‘stressed.’

Christopher Dorner, 33, remained at large, and authorities continued to search the snowy terrain after finding his burned pickup truck on a mountain road Thursday.

PHOTOS: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

The fugitive former Los Angeles Police Department officer is accused of killing three people and wounding two others in attacks in Orange and Riverside counties.

In a rambling manifesto that police say Dorner posted on what they believe was his Facebook page, the former Navy Reserve officer described himself as a man trained to survive in harsh conditions.

The Dorner investigation was unsettling for some residents in the mountain community, where authorities were going door to door to search about 400 homes.

TIMELINE: Manhunt for ex-LAPD officer

‘We’re all just stressed,’ said Andrea Burton, who was at a convenience store Thursday picking up snacks for a long night locked down at home.

She said city buildings were on lockdown and that no one was being let in or out of the area without an escort as federal, state and local law enforcement officers from across the region scoured the mountains for the suspected killer. A storm generated in the Gulf of Alaska forced the National Weather Service to upgrade its winter weather advisory for the area to a winter storm warning overnight, meteorologist Scott Sukup said.

INTERACTIVE MAP: Searching for suspected shooter

Big Bear residents should expect 6 to 10 inches of snow above 4,000 feet and 2 to 6 inches of snow below 4,000 feet, the weather service said. That much snow is ‘fairly rare’ and ‘you see it only a couple times a year,” Sukup said.

Snow levels could drop to between 2,500 and 3,000 feet Friday morning and to 2,000 feet by the evening, the weather service said.

Wind gusts could reach 45 mph, and Sukup said scattered showers are expected throughout the day.

‘You definitely don’t want to be trying to drive around,’ he added.

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-- Joseph Serna and Phil Willon in Big Bear and Matt Stevens in Los Angeles

Big Bear Lake house for slaying suspect Christopher Dorner on Thursday. Credit: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times